Stripp wins 9th term in 135th District

Published 7:00 pm, Monday, November 3, 2008

Stripp
won a victory over his opponent,
Green Party
candidate Remy Chevalier of Weston.

Chevalier said he was a "placement candidate." That is, he put his name on the ballot to establish a Green Party presence in the race and help establish Green as a "viable party" in the state.

"I'm hoping in the next election someone from the Green Party will truly vie for that particular position," Chevalier said.

In Redding, Stripp had 2,023 votes to Chevalier's 541 votes.

Stripp, a financial executive in Weston, stressed that the state budget, with a projected $300 million deficit this year and $800 million deficit in the coming year, is the "biggest worry" for the upcoming legislative session.

"It will color everything we do," Stripp said. "Trying to fill even a billion-dollar shortfall is daunting, and I've heard projections of $1.2 billion in two years. Still, to raise taxes would be detrimental in a struggling economy."

Stripp said government programs will have to be trimmed because of the unavoidable cost of debt service the state is already locked into.

And because a large portion of the Fairfield County work force is being affected by the Wall Street "meltdown," tax revenues will be dropping, he said.

Still, he sees spending on mass transportation projects, including improvements to the Danbury rail line, as being essential, and he will work to see those improvements occur, he said.

Stripp now serves on the Appropriations, Banks and Commerce committees.